Worker abuse is SOP in America

Monday

Sep 24, 2007 at 2:15 AM

Your Labor Day stories discussing past and present roles and achievements of organized labor interested me. While the debate of collective bargaining versus straight-ahead capitalism is complicated and controversial, it is, unfortunately, almost universally understood as a simple debate of economics. The moral consequences of straight-ahead capitalism are too often overlooked, and often indirectly result in economic disparities of their own. The notion that unadulterated market forces do not drive class and economic warfare is absolutely wrong.

KENNETH NEWTON

Your Labor Day stories discussing past and present roles and achievements of organized labor interested me. While the debate of collective bargaining versus straight-ahead capitalism is complicated and controversial, it is, unfortunately, almost universally understood as a simple debate of economics. The moral consequences of straight-ahead capitalism are too often overlooked, and often indirectly result in economic disparities of their own. The notion that unadulterated market forces do not drive class and economic warfare is absolutely wrong.

I once worked for a nonunion biotech company right here on the Cape that was (and still is) very closely regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At the time of my hire, I was told that the company had very strict policies that had to be followed; I spent an entire day signing off on standard operating procedures, or SOPs.

Every time a new SOP was written, every employee that was affected by it had to sign off on it.

As a member of the IT staff, I was assigned the responsibility of delegating and documenting network permissions.

In direct violation of our department's SOPs, these processes were regularly and routinely ignored. After unsuccessfully pleading with my supervisor to "hold the line" on rules that he, himself, had written, I found myself out of a job. When I applied for unemployment benefits, the company testified that it was I who was not following the company's policies, and my claim was denied. Had I been a member of a union, certainly there would have been a much greater chance of accountability.

I also worked for a (nonunion) company that was outsourced to provide technical support to a wireless telephone company. At my time of hire, I was told that all new employees were hired at the same hourly rate, which I will now identify as $X per hour. In the time to come, I became aware that staff were hired at X plus $1, X plus $2, X plus $3.50, etc. There was also actually an expectation that I was supposed to supervise some of the newer hires, who were earning more than I was! When I brought this to the attention of my supervisor, I was given a 50-cent-per-hour raise, and told that if I was found to be discussing pay rates with other staff, that my position would be terminated.

These stories are not unique to my own experiences; this is simply the world we live in and the culture to which America has acclimated. I'm resourceful, and do just fine self-employed. But to suggest that industry owes no accountability other than to produce profit is wrong, un-American, and immoral.